Meet Your Faculty Affiliates: Brian Gill (Sounds)

Brian Gill, the FA for our Sounds Stream, is a clinical assistant professor of vocal performance in Steinhardt.

1. Where do you come from? And how long have you been in NYC / at NYU?

I grew up mostly in North Carolina, but have lived in Texas, New York (twice), Colorado, Kentucky, and Paris, France. I have been in NYC since 2003 when I took a job teaching at Pace University. The next year I got a job as an adjunct at NYU and in 2006 was hired here full-time.

2. What are your professional interests? What courses do you teach?

At first, my studies were in double bass, but I switched to vocal performance soon after. My training has mostly been in classical music/opera, but I have also performed professionally in jazz, music theatre, country and rock/funk. As often as I can I like to combine my bass playing and singing, but it is fairly difficult to do in the opera world!

I am a complete vocal nerd. During my Masters degree, thanks to my voice teacher, Dr. Barbara Doscher, I developed an intense interest in voice science. I continued to study the anatomy and physiology of the voice as well as acoustics. My work now involves acoustic analysis of the voice with a focus on discovering the most effective resonance strategies (pretty nerdy!). I teach private voice lessons and two graduate level courses in Vocal Pedagogy.

Above all else ... I LOVE music and its uniting force in the world!

3. Do you have any publications?

I have a published dissertation, A Singer's Guide to the Solo Vocal Literature of Maximilien d'Ollone and several articles on various topics in the voice world. [Ed note: Watch Brian explain why singers should warm up!]

4. What are some of the things you plan to do with your stream this semester?

At our first meeting, Savetrie (the wonderful RA with whom I am working!) and I plan to assess the interests of the group and plan things around that. We have discussed a jazz brunch at the Blue Note, a trip to the MET to see an opera, perhaps in conjunction with a discussion with one of my students who sings there, and a composer series, to name a few possibilities.

Thanks!